


Welcome to the Heist

by Aneiria



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Auror Harry Potter, Azkaban, Bromance to Romance, Crimes & Criminals, Heist, M/M, Shore of Angst Fest 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:02:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24022546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aneiria/pseuds/Aneiria
Summary: ‘One job,’ Theo said, his voice low. ‘One job and if we don’t like it, we become recluses together.’Blaise gave him a fierce smile and pulled him into a hug.‘One job,’ he agreed. ‘You won’t regret this, Theo.’Really, after half a lifetime of friendship with Blaise, Theo should have known better.
Relationships: Theodore Nott/Blaise Zabini
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35
Collections: SOA Fest 2020





	Welcome to the Heist

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Shore of Angst Fest 2020.
> 
> Thanks D for the beta and support as always!

**I**

‘Do you have any better ideas, Theo?’ Blaise’s dark eyes flashed in a rare show of emotion, and Theo didn’t miss the way Blaise’s hands clenched into fists. ‘We’re never going to be able to contribute to society. Society doesn’t want us!’

Theo groaned and turned away from his best friend, staring blindly outside of the window. Blaise’s townhouse looked out onto Diagon Alley, and for a moment Theo focused only on the colours and the movement of the busy street below, trying to calm his mind.

He knew Blaise was right, of course. They may not have been Death Eaters in the war – not like Draco, who’d already fled to France with his mother to rebuild their lives there – but they were trusted little more than those who had taken the Dark Mark.

Theo’s father had been one of Voldemort’s followers, dead now in the final battle, and Blaise’s mother had enough infamy with her suspected mariticidal tendencies to make anyone with sense be suspicious of her son as well.

Between the legacy of their families and their own shadowed pasts, Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini had no-one to turn to but each other.

‘We needn’t do it forever.’ Blaise’s voice was calm now; seductive, almost. He took a step towards Theo, and Theo felt his shoulders drop when Blaise’s hand brushed his back. ‘Let’s just do one job. See how it goes. Then we can stop if we want, and give in to our inevitable lives of lounging in our ancient manor houses and slowly become mad old recluses.’

The truth was, Theo could never refuse Blaise anything. And Blaise knew that as well as Theo did. They’d been friends now for nearly a decade, after all.

Blaise had been the only constant in Theo’s life since his first year at Hogwarts, when the Sorting Hat had told him he had ambition and cunning and placed him in Slytherin. Blaise was Sorted into Slytherin too, and from that moment they had been best friends.

In Theo’s mind, it was an inevitable partnership. Blaise, with his dark skin and hair, high cheekbones, and haughty demeanour was the epitome of pureblood elegance. Blaise spoke carefully and sharply, moved with grace and had eyes that could lure lovers of any gender into his bed.

Theo, in contrast, was awkward and long-limbed, clever but with dishevelled hair and a clumsy enthusiasm to him. If Blaise was a jungle cat, then Theo was an overgrown puppy. He knew that he talked too fast and laughed too loud to be considered elegant, but it had never mattered to him. Blaise was always at his side; his foil, his armour.

And leaving Hogwarts did nothing to change that.

It had been two years now since graduation, and despite both returning for the special post-war eighth year and receiving Outstandings on all of their N.E.W.T.s, the only thing they had to show for all their hard work was a trail of rejection letters.

Theo knew it had hurt him more than Blaise, really, the constant rejection. He suspected the only reason his friend had been applying for anything was so that Theo didn’t feel quite so alone.

Theo shrugged off Blaise’s hand but turned away from the window, facing him. Blaise had that look on his face that Theo had only ever seen aimed at him. Softer than usual, with a hint of sadness and a spark of fury.

‘One job,’ Theo said, his voice low. ‘One job and if we don’t like it, we become recluses together.’

Blaise gave him a fierce smile and pulled him into a hug.

‘One job,’ he agreed. ‘You won’t regret this, Theo.’

Really, after half a lifetime of friendship with Blaise, Theo should have known better.

**II**

Of course their first job had been fun. Blaise and Theo, it turned out, were perfectly built for a life of crime and dark dealings. Blaise was the dangerous one, the lethal one, the one who smiled even while he was cursing you. Theo was the charmer, the distraction, the one who you’d invite trustingly into your house only to have Blaise rob you while you weren’t looking.

One job led to a second, then to a third, and before long they were known as one of the top partnerships in the wizarding underworld if you needed a nefarious task carried out. First you went to Esmeralda Zabini, and if you had the money and the job, she’d send out her boys.

It had been three years since that talk in Blaise’s townhouse, and they were about to head out on what was probably their hundredth job. With a practiced ease borne of years of friendship and working together they danced around each other getting dressed and preparing their equipment.

‘What do you want to do later this evening?’ Blaise asked casually as he buttoned up his shirt, looking in the mirror as he did.

‘Shall we see if Daphne and Pansy want to go out for a drink?’ Theo replied, pulling on a blue silk tie.

Blaise caught sight of him in the reflection of the mirror and tutted to himself. He stalked over to the wardrobe, pulled out a length of green silk and marched over to Theo, swatting his hands out of the way so he could pull off the offending blue tie and replace it with the green one he had selected.

‘What are you doing?’ Theo asked in bemusement as Blaise knotted the tie with a flourish. Blaise was impeccably dressed as usual.

‘This green brings out the colour in your eyes,’ Blaise replied easily. ‘You can never be overdressed, Theo, even for a heist.’

Blaise’s tone left no room for argument and Theo settled for a smirk instead. Approved tie in place, he pulled on his robes as Blaise did the same. Then they both grabbed their wands and sheathed them in the holsters concealed on their forearms.

‘Let’s go rob some jewels,’ Theo said lightly, and held on to Blaise’s arm, letting him Apparate them both to the rendezvous point.

‘I don't like this,’ Blaise murmured a short time later.

He and Theo were loitering in the shadows of a warehouse in Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter, preparing to disarm the Caterwauling charms that protected the priceless gemstones within.

‘Honestly, Blaise,’ Theo said with a hint of disdain as he crept forward with his wand raised. ‘I’ve successfully disarmed Caterwauling Charms before, you know.’

‘That’s not what I mean, Theo,’ Blaise said, his voice tight with exasperation. ‘I just have a bad feeling about all of this.’

Theo ignored him as he waved his wand and whispered the disarming spell. He cautiously moved forward, walking across the slightly glowing line in the floor that had been the boundary for the alarm, and gave Blaise a triumphant grin as the warehouse remained silent.

‘C’mon, Blaise, we’ve done this dozens of times now.’

Theo was getting impatient. It was an easy job tonight, just an infiltration into the warehouse and a pilfering of two enormous cursed diamonds that would go for a fortune on the black market.

Blaise still looked unconvinced, and Theo sighed dramatically and turned towards the room that housed the vaults. He called back to Blaise over his shoulder.

‘Just wait there and guard the entrance then. I’ll be in and out in minutes and then we can go and meet the girls for dinner.’

He heard Blaise make an unhappy noise behind him but Theo was already off, pushing the door open and striding into the vaults. He found the one that housed the diamonds and swished his wand as he tried a few unlocking charms. It took several attempts to find one that worked, and when the heavy metal door finally swung open Theo heard Blaise’s anxious voice call from the warehouse entrance.

‘Hurry the fuck along, Theo!’

Theo frowned as he reached in to pull out the two velvet boxes that housed the diamonds. It was unlike Blaise to be so jumpy, now that he thought about it. He wondered what had made him uneasy. Putting his wand away and stuffing the boxes into his pockets, Theo pushed the vault door closed and walked back out of the room.

Perhaps if Theo had been less distracted, if he hadn’t already been thinking ahead to dinner, or even still had his wand in his hand, then the next few moments would have turned out very differently.

As it was, the cracking sound of several Apparitions at once echoed in the warehouse, and before Theo could grab his wand again, two burly Aurors were holding his arms in a vicelike grip as several more Aurors, wands drawn and faces serious, swung around to search the place.

Theo looked up in horror to where Blaise was still hidden in the shadows. His partner’s wand was raised, but Theo could see Blaise do the mental arithmetic. There were five Aurors searching the warehouse, not counting the two with their hands on Theo, and Blaise couldn’t take them all down alone.

Blaise’s eyes met Theo’s. Theo gave him a pleading look, but Blaise shook his head very slightly, his expression conflicted. The Aurors were approaching his hiding place, and Blaise gave Theo one last look, mouthed the words _‘I’ll come and get you_ ,’ to him, and then with a flick of his wand silently Apparated, leaving Theo alone at the mercy of the Aurors.

As the other Aurors carried on searching the now-empty warehouse, one of them approached Theo, his green eyes hard, his dark hair more dishevelled than Theo’s own.

‘Theodore Nott.’ His voice was unimpressed, and Theo gulped nervously. ‘You’re coming with us.’

And Harry Potter reached out, placed his hand on Theo’s arm, and Disapparated them away.

**III**

Five years. Five long, cold years in Azkaban. That’s what Theo had ended up with after the disastrous diamond heist. Despite Blaise’s last words to him, the little fucker had never been seen again.

Not at Theo’s trial, not at his sentencing. Not once had he visited in five years. And now that Theo was finally being released from the godsforsaken hellhole that was the wizarding prison, he had walked out into the cold, grey morning and found no-one waiting for him.

Well, Theo hadn’t wasted his time inside. The cold anger that curled around his heart and engulfed him, even without the Dementor guards of old sucking the joy from him, had fuelled his vengeance.

Theo Nott was going to hunt Blaise Zabini down, wherever he was hiding now. He would hunt him down, curse his sorry arse, and then turn him over to the Aurors so he could have a taste of the same punishment that Theo had suffered.

Theo expected it to be more difficult to find him, to be honest. He’d been planning on paying Draco Malfoy a visit in France, and if he hadn’t seen him then Theo was going to head on to Italy.

As it turned out, Theo bumped into Daphne Greengrass in Diagon Alley after his first week back in the wizarding world, and she had whisked him off to lunch, citing the need to feed him up.

‘Blaise has been lost without you,’ Daphne had commented lightly as she looked over the menu. She didn’t seem to notice Theo’s fists clench on the table at the mention of his old partner’s name. ‘I thought he’d have given up the game after what happened to you, but he’s still going strong. Goes alone, now, of course, but still.’

Theo had frozen in disbelief. The absolute bastard. Not only had he betrayed and abandoned him, but he had carried on working for his mother, cashing in on the reputation he and Theo had built together? The anger simmered below the surface, barely kept in check as Daphne moved on to safer topics and they finished their lunch.

It hadn’t taken long to find out where Blaise’s next heist was going to be. Theo had enough contacts left in Knockturn, and one unexpected benefit of his time in Azkaban was that his old informants seemed much more scared of him now than they ever had been before. He’d barely had to threaten them at all before they were telling him all of the names and locations and timings he needed to know.

And so, Theo found himself hiding in the shadows of an old manor house in Scotland a few days later. This time he had his wand out and ready, waiting in silence until another person entered the hallway and paused. Theo would have recognised that posture anywhere, that and the way they held their wand out in an almost lazy fashion.

Blaise turned slightly, as if sensing someone watching him, and Theo stepped out from the shadows, his wand trained on him.

‘Theo?’ Blaise’s voice cracked slightly as he said his name.

Theo tried not to flinch. ‘Zabini,’ he replied coldly. ‘Surprised to see me? Five years inside wasn’t quite enough to kill me off, I’m afraid.’

With a sharp cutting motion he flung a curse at Blaise, but the other wizard was quicker and threw up a silent Protego just in time.

‘Theo, please, let me expla - ’

Theo hurled another curse at Blaise’s shield, cutting off his sentence.

‘Don’t give me that shit, Zabini,’ Theo hissed. ‘I’m not here for your excuses. I’m here for revenge, you prick!’

Another slash, another curse. Blaise stumbled backwards, his shield faltering.

‘Fuck’s sake, Theo,’ Blaise said, his voice cold with anger. ‘You want to get us both taken in, you fucking idiot?’

Theo’s temper finally snapped, and with a lunge he threw curse after curse at Blaise, forcing him backwards as he held his Protego.

‘Don’t call me an idiot, Blaise!’ Theo shouted angrily. ‘You have no idea what it was like!’

Another curse ricocheted off Blaise’s shield, and with a ferocious howl Theo dropped his wand and launched himself at Blaise instead.

The force of his tackle landed them both on the dusty floor of the manor, and Theo punched at him blindly, taking pleasure in the grunts of pain even when Blaise’s fists found their own purchase on Theo’s body.

Theo was dimly aware of an Intruder alarm finally arming, and Blaise groaned at the noise, aiming a particularly vicious hook into Theo’s kidney.

‘You stupid fucker,’ Blaise hissed as Theo moaned in pain and rolled off him. ‘Look what you’ve done now.’

In a moment of déjà vu, Theo found himself suddenly surrounded as several Aurors Apparated in.

Their wands were snatched from where they had been abandoned on the floor, and Blaise and Theo were both pulled to their feet. A familiar pair of green eyes observed them.

‘Fancy seeing you here, Nott,’ Potter said in a bored voice. ‘And you led us straight to your accomplice. We’ve been after you for quite some time, Zabini.’

As Blaise scowled at Theo and Theo curled his lip back at him, Potter nodded to the Aurors holding them tight.

‘Take them to the holding cells,’ he said, and Theo once again felt the pull of Apparition like he did all those years ago in the warehouse.

‘I hope you're pleased with yourself,’ Blaise snarled at Theo as he prowled the holding cell. They were the only two in there, their wands confiscated. No-one was watching them, but it didn’t matter. There was no way to escape.

Theo sat on the long wooden bench, his arms crossed over his chest and a glint of vindictiveness in his eyes.

‘Very pleased, actually,’ he countered. ‘Took me less than two weeks to get you into the hands of the Aurors like you belong. Although I have to admit, I hoped to get at least a hex or two onto you before they came bursting in on us.’

‘We could have done this with at least some form of civility, you prat,’ Blaise hissed back. ‘All you’ve done now is gotten us both a one-way ticket to Azkaban. And for what? Some idiotic idea of revenge?’

Theo jumped to his feet, squaring off to Blaise. To his credit, despite Theo being taller and physically more intimidating, Blaise didn’t back down or even blink.

‘You have no idea!’ Theo shouted, shoving Blaise in the chest. ‘No fucking idea what it was like!’

‘And you couldn’t have told me over a glass or two of vintage firewhisky like a gentleman instead of ambushing my hit like that? You always were a fucking drama queen, Theo.’

It was too much. Theo felt his anger overflow and his mouth took over from his brain.

‘I loved you, Blaise!’ Theo’s voice was passionate and angry, and a moment after his outburst his eyes widened as he realised what he had said. ‘I loved you like a brother,’ he amended hastily, forcing himself to hold Blaise’s stare.

‘Liar,’ was Blaise’s response. Quiet and deadly, just like him.

‘You know what, fuck you, Blaise,’ Theo shouted. ‘Fuck you and your fucking cold as ice persona. I went to Azkaban for you, you prick! And you abandoned me!’

Silver sparks flew from Theo’s fingertips as he barely contained his anger. Blaise’s eyes shifted from Theo’s face to the evidence of his barely constrained magic, and one eyebrow raised in an expression that Theo recognised only too well from all their years together. Blaise had a plan.

‘You know something, Theo?’ Blaise said coolly, slowly moving so he stood inches away from Theo, like a glacier advancing into a magma flow. ‘I would like nothing more than for you to fuck me.’

Before Theo could even comprehend his words, let alone respond, Blaise’s mouth was on his, in a desperate kiss full of longing and pain.

Theo let the kiss happen, his lips parting in surprise to let Blaise in, and Blaise’s hands gripped onto Theo’s arms, holding him close. A second after the shock wore off, Theo felt emotion explode within him, and he heard Blaise wince as more sparks of magic erupted from Theo’s body, burning him. Blaise pulled away quickly and murmured two words to him.

‘Good boy.’

Then Theo gasped as Blaise’s grip on him tightened and he felt the familiar jerking pull of Apparition from behind his bellybutton.

**IV**

They stumbled apart as they landed from the hasty, wandless Apparition and without thinking, Theo let his fist collide with Blaise’s jaw. Blaise almost went down, staggering back a few steps and massaging his face with his hand.

‘Shit, Theo, really?’ he hissed, as Theo clenched his fists and his jaw. ‘I just saved you from another five years in fucking Azkaban and _this_ is how you thank me?’

Theo took a moment to take in their surroundings. He realised they were at the very end of the Worm’s Head in Wales, the sea cutting off the peninsula as the sky darkened around them. It had been here that they had camped one night after a particularly close job, when Diagon had been too hot for them to return to straight away.

‘That was for the last five years, you complete arsehole,’ Theo hissed.

Blaise shook his head in exasperation and turned away from him, collapsing on the grassy outcrop overlooking the steel-grey sea below. He hunched his shoulders against the chill of the sea air. Theo sighed and, with nothing better to do, sat next to him.

‘How did you do that, anyway?’ Theo asked, his voice quieter. ‘Didn’t know wandless Apparition was even possible.’

Blaise shrugged, not meeting his eye. ‘It wasn’t _technically_ wandless,’ he admitted. ‘Your emotions were so high that you were manifesting magic. In this case, _you_ were the wand.’

Theo stared at him in disbelief. ‘What the fuck are you saying? That you took my inadvertent admission of love and lied about feeling the same just so you could use my magic and save your sorry arse?’

Theo launched himself back to his feet, feeling his anger rise again. Blaise was such a _dick_ , why did entertain the idea that he might have changed?

From the ground Blaise scoffed at him.

‘Please, Theo, you beautiful idiot,’ Blaise muttered. ‘Do you not remember anything you learned about wandlore?’

Theo blinked in confusion. Blaise sighed and finally stood up, facing him with his arms crossed defensively.

‘“The wand chooses the wizard”?’ Blaise quoted cryptically. ‘Your magic _let_ me use it, Theo. I couldn’t have done that if there wasn’t a connection between us. And for the record,’ he added, his eyes flashing dangerously now. ‘I have never lied to you. Not today, not ever.’

Theo felt the fight leave his body, and very suddenly he just felt exhaustion trickle through his muscles and his mind.

‘Don’t fuck with me, Blaise,’ he said weakly. ‘Not now. Not anymore.’

‘Theo,’ Blaise said his name and then stopped, a pained expression on his face. ‘Look, I know I’ve lost your trust. I wish to Merlin you’d understand how hard I tried to get you out of that godsforsaken fortress. I barely slept for the first year, I’ve never had to bribe so many fucking people before. Architects, prison guards, Wizengamot members. Draco came back for six months to help, until the hexes in the street were getting a bit too dangerous and frequent for him to stay. Pansy even spent six months seducing fucking Harry Potter to try and get inside info from the Auror department.’ Blaise’s tirade came to a stop, and when he turned to look at Theo, his eyes were tired and sad. ‘I tried so hard, Theo. I would have done anything to get you out of there. I’m so sorry I failed you.’

Theo winced and turned away. He didn’t want to hear Blaise’s excuses, or think about him by himself for all of those years, working on an escape plan that would never work. He wanted to be _angry_ at him, for the anger that fuelled those years alone in his cell to have _meant_ something.

‘Please, Theo,’ Blaise was begging now, shifting closer and laying a tentative hand on Theo’s tensed arm. ‘Please at least let me try and earn your forgiveness. Even if it takes the rest of my life.’

‘You’re a git, Blaise, you know that?’ Theo said, but his voice was weak and he knew he wasn’t convincing either of them. A beat passed between them in silence, and in defeat Theo waved vaguely out to the sky, to the sea, beyond them.

‘So, where do we go from here?’ Theo wasn’t even sure himself if he meant geographically or emotionally.

Blaise gave him that small, warm smile that he only used with Theo.

‘We still have our safe house in Rome,’ Blaise said with careful lightness.

The Rome bolthole. It had been their backup, for if things in Britain ever got too hot for them. It sounded like Blaise had kept it warded and in good repair, even while Theo languished in Azkaban. _Sentimental_ _fucker_ , Theo thought to himself.

‘Just one month, Theo,’ Blaise said. ‘We can see how it goes. And if you’re still mad after that, I give you free rein to hex me, to throw me out, and remove me from the wards.’

Theo tried not to let the corner of his mouth twitch. Five years may have passed, but he still knew full well that he still couldn’t refuse Blaise anything. He gave his erstwhile partner a long, measured look, taking in the hopeful expression and the wide eyes.

‘One month,’ Theo said, shortly. ‘And I expect breakfast in bed and a cappuccino every morning, you bastard. And gelato whenever I want.’

They faced one another, Theo’s mouth set in a stern line with his hands on his hips, Blaise with his sparkling eyes, trying not to smile.

‘I’ll give you the world, Theo,’ Blaise said simply, and he leaned in and kissed him again, this time with gentle lips that were full of promise. ‘And I promise I’ll never let you go again.’


End file.
